Black Friday 2021: Latest Deals, News & More (October 19)

It’s October 19th and the Black Friday deals have already started, with Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart offering discounts on everything from laptops and tablets to robot vacuums and TVs. But with the sales happening a lot earlier than usual it’s difficult to 1) keep on track of who’s doing what; 2) find the cheapest price on the item you want; and 3) know what to buy. That’s where we come in: We’re rounding up the latest Black Friday news, Black Friday dates, the best Black Friday deals you can shop each day, so you don’t have to hunt around for them.

Black Friday Sales You Can Shop Today

Top 10 Black Friday Deals You Can Shop Today

• Amazon TV Stick 4K — $35, was $50
• Sony WH-CH710N Wireless Headphones — $78, was $180
• Roku Streambar Soundbar — $100, was $130
• Shark ION RV750 Robot Vacuum — $144, was $199
• Lenovo Chromebook S330 (4GB RAM, 32GB SSD) — $159, was $239
• Ninja Foodi 4-in-1 Air Fryer (AG300) — $169, was $199
• Apple AirPods Pro with Wireless Charging Case — $197, was $249
• LG 32-inch 4K Monitor (FreeSync, HDR10) — $249, was $349
• Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Headphones — $248, was $350
• TCL 55-inch QLED 4K TV — <strong>$449</strong> — $449, was $700

Should You Shop the Black Friday Deals Today?

I can’t stress this enough: SHOP NOW.

We’re going to see the same supply chain issues as last year, if not worse, so beat the rush and do your holiday shopping today. If you wait until Black Friday it’s likely the item you purchase won’t arrive in time for the holidays. In fact, chances are must-have gifts like the Nintendo Switch will be on backorder before November. The Black Friday deals today bring hefty discounts, and it’s hard to imagine them being cheaper on Black Friday itself — maybe an extra $10 or $20 off, if anything. But what’s a few extra bucks in your pocket if the item doesn’t arrive in time?

There are some products that’ll sell out faster than others, of course. You’ll want to buy an Apple Watch before Black Friday if you’re in the market for one. We’d also don’t recommend waiting until Black Friday to buy an iPad. In fact, we can make this a bit easier: Apple products are among the most sought-after for the holidays, and among the best-selling on Black Friday, so you’ll want to pick these up now. Apple has already said it’s having trouble producing the iPhone 13 and has had to cut down on orders, and it’s safe to assume that’ll extend to everything.

Other items we expect to be in high demand are the Nintendo Switch, Instant Pots, the Ninja AF100 Air Fryer, and anything gaming-related, including the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X, and gaming laptops and gaming PCs. Retailers are already experiencing shortages of GPUs and CPUs, with RAM set to follow, so you’ll need to stock up now if you’re shopping for someone who’s building their own computer or building one themselves — and this will only get worse with new GTA 6 rumors encouraging people to upgrade.

Thanks to schemes like the Best Buy Black Friday Price Guarantee, there’s no harm in shopping now either. Say you buy a TV in the Black Friday sales at Best Buy today and the retailer knocks an extra $20 off it on Thanksgiving or even Black Friday, you’ll be credited back the difference. Granted, this doesn’t cover you across different retailers so if you shop at Best Buy and Walmart has it cheaper, you aren’t covered. But to reiterate what I said earlier: These early Black Friday deals are so good it’s hard to imagine anyone undercutting them by much.

If we do see some of these items cheaper, it probably won’t be by more than $20 and you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll be on backorder and won’t arrive in time for the holidays, so you need to ask yourself whether you want to take the chance and hold out until Black Friday or still take advantage of a fantastic deal (hundreds of products are already at their cheapest-ever prices, including the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 at Best Buy) and potentially miss out on a few extra bucks in savings, but have the item in your hands in time for the gifting season.

Latest Black Friday News

In the second week of October, Best Buy launched a $200-per-year membership program promises to provide subscribers with exclusive access to hard-to-find products during the holiday season, possibly including early access to Black Friday deals. It’s recommending shoppers sign up or the Totaltech program ahead of Black Friday to receive special notices and access members-only savings events. Unlike Walmart+, Best Buy isn’t offering a free trial of Totaltech so you’ll need to hand over $200 to take it for a spin. Is it worth it? We’ll have to wait and see.

Then, on October 18, Walmart followed Best Buy’s lead and announced that it will offer exclusive Black Friday deals to its Walmart+ members. These customers will be able to shop online sales four hours earlier than other customers throughout November. You can sign up for a free one-month Walmart+ subscription to shop the sales for free. Just sign up at the start of November and it’ll see you through the end of the month. Cancel before the renewal date if you don’t want to continue with your subscription and you won’t be charged for another month.

Wondering what people are purchasing in the early Black Friday deals? Amazon’s Movers & Shakers list shows sales of the Roku Streambar are up 715%, which is discounted from $130 to $100 in its Black Friday sale. The Roku Ultra and Roku Premiere are also on the list, both up 76%. The Roku Ultra is on sale for $69, down from $100; the Roku Premiere got a modest $5 discount, dropping it from $40 to $35. Sales of the Amazon eero Mesh Wi-Fi Extender are up 110%, as the price drops 25% to only $89. Suffice to say, Roku is hot right now.

The Best Buy Black Friday deals officially started on October 19 — and they certainly don’t disappoint. In typical fashion, we’ve rounded up all the best deals, but if you’re after the single greatest offer that would have to be this 70-inch Samsung 4K TV, which is discounted from $750 to $600 from now through the end of Black Friday. This is of course covered by the Best Buy Black Friday Price Guarantee, so if the price is slashed by even a dollar more after you buy, you’ll get the difference credited back (automatically for My Best Buy customers).

Dell kicked off a Black Friday sale of sorts on October 19 as well, cutting the price of its laptops, gaming PCs and monitors for the next 48 hours. This includes the Dell XPS 13, Dell XPS 15, Dell XPS 17, and select Alienware models, so if you’re picking one up for the holidays, beat the rush by shopping now.

More Black Friday Deals Available Now

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